ALMOST everyone has heard of the Internet but few understand what it can do and how it can help them if they are not already linked up.

The Internet started life as a tool for the academic community to allow the rapid sharing of information but has grown into an entity which can help people from all walks of life and can cost as little as 10 pence a day to be a part of.

The Internet can be viewed as an enormous encyclopedia which is being updated daily, a communications network like the telephone to talk to people from all over the world and a giant bulletin board where people can post opinions, buy and sell goods, ask for information or debate points of interest.

This bulletin board, however, operates at the speed of light and is accessible worldwide.

Information and messages can be presented as text, graphics and now sound and moving pictures.

Have you tired obtaining British Rail timetables recently?

If you have you'll be used to the waiting around and the engaged tone.

With the net you can obtain journey plans and detailed departure information for any station in the country using BR's on-line timetable service. Every member of the family can use the Internet and find interformation after just a few minutes and it is no longer restricted to the few "computer nerds" of the world.

So what do I need?

Well, a computer is necessary which can be second-hand or a fairly cheap model - about £400 should get you a machine which will work well - a modem to convert computer information to sound which can travel down the phone lines which can cost as little as £40 and the vital connection to the Internet via an Internet service provider (an ISP). Your ISP is your connection point to the Internet so choosing one carefully is important.

Such factors as access, speed, availability, cost and availability of trained technical staff to help you with any problems must all be assessed before an informed choice can be made.

Access should be possible 24 hours a day and the user/modem ratio is worth examining.

A ratio of more than 15:1 could mean you cannot get on the Internet in the evenings and at weekends when phone calls are at their cheapest.

You need to look for flat rate charging where you only get charged a monthly or annual subscription fee and no charges are made for the time you use the service.

The two big American companies, AOL and Compuserve, charge a subscription fee plus on-line charges which could mean monthly bills of up to £90.

Charges of under £10 a month are very common and you certainly shouldn't be paying more than this for unlimited access.

Technical support is also very important and support staff who understand your system and the Internet in general are an asset to you.

One of the cheapest companies who fulfil all of the above criteria are WaveNet who offer unlimited access, a 10:1 user modem ratio and highly-qualified technical staff and are offering for a limited period access for just £3 a month for a two-year subscription.

The Internet has already saved some local businesses and home users up to £8000 on purchases.

Countless hours have been saved by looking up information on the Internet rather than trailing to your library to look at information which is likely to be at least a year out of date.

Ask yourself this - if other people are getting these advantages locally on the net, shouldn't you be getting them too?

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.